


Started It All

by caelondian



Category: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 23:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11520075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caelondian/pseuds/caelondian
Summary: Mewt buys the Gran Grimoire. (Spellbound.)





	Started It All

Mewt had originally seen the book in the store a few weeks ago. He was at first wary of it. It was in the "Rare Books" section of the used bookstore so his first assumption was that it was extremely expensive.

Over the days, he finally worked up the nerve to ask the bookstore owner.

"U-um, that book..." he muttered shyly to the bookkeep's back.

"Eh?" said the bookkeep turning around.

"That strange one in the rare books section...it's a lot of money?"

The bookkeep looked to the back of the store. A tall, brown shelf propped against the wall with a small cardboard sign sitting at the top with messy letters adorning it, and it was stuffed full of very old or very pretty books. When he knew which one Mewt was talking about it, his eyebrows rose in a thoughtful way. It had been sitting on the highest shelf with its spine widened.

"No, not anymore. I couldn't sell it, so I brought the price down," he told Mewt, whose heart raced.

"Oh? How come?" Mewt asked, trying to act passively.

"It's about weird stuff, occult, you know? I can't even tell what that title is..." the bookkeep admitted.

"H-how much is it now?"

"Not much at all. Heck, even a kid like you could buy it now."

The bookkeep told Mewt how much it was and he bolted home. He waited patiently for his father to get home from work while doing his homework and reading some of his older books with amazing tales of dragons and magic.

He wanted that book. It was aged and old and magical-looking. With its pages splayed, he could see some of the writing from even on the high shelf. They were filled with magical beasts and words like "thou" and "warrior" and diagrams that he'd only seen in children's books with wizards and sword-wielding heroes. But this book was obviously no child's thing; he was certain he wouldn't understand any of the words in the book.

He wanted it anyway.

When he heard the door to his house open, he went to his father and helped him around, placing his work things down and making a big pot of soup. He looked curiously over to his father, wondering when he should ask him. His father's head was always down-turned, ever since...

"Hey dad," Mewt said.

"Mewt?" he called.

Mewt poured the soup into a large bowl which he had to carry to the table with pot-holders embroidered with flowers and ladybugs. They were his mother's favourite, and she had always been sure to say exactly what she meant. He drew strength from her and asked.

"I found this cool book," he said, "I was wondering if I could have some money to buy it."

His father didn't say anything, just stuck his spoon in the soup, lost in thought, "hmmm"ing occasionally. Mewt's direct approach hadn't worked quite like his mother's, and he decided not to try again, instead going to the sink to wash the pot he had used to make the soup. When he passed his father, he turned to go down into the den and his father called him.

"Oh, you can take my wallet whenever you want to buy it."

Mewt didn't turn because he knew his father still wouldn't be looking at him, just staring at his soup. But he smiled anyway.

"Thanks, dad."

* * *

The next morning before his father awoke, he took out the exact amount the bookkeep had told him, and stuffed it into his pocket, jogging to school in the chilly snow-filled air.

His only thought as he huffed all the way down the street was, _"I can't wait to show that new kid, Marche!"_


End file.
